Remove shredded waste tires from the Los Osos Community Park

We are concerned parents, grandparents and friends of Los Osos children who play on the equipment at the Los Osos Community Park. Our children come home smelling of petroleum and are dirty with black residue from shredded tires on their hands and faces.

The Los Osos Community Park playground has been using shredded waste tires as cushioning under the outdoor play equipment.

Unfortunately, scientific evidence shows that the toxins found in waste tires leach into the soil and off-gas into the breathing space above these materials.

Waste tires contain arsenic, lead, and other metals, as well as carbon black nanoparticles, which are linked to lung inflammation and cell death.

In addition, a recent analysis identified 96 chemicals, including irritants, probable carcinogens, and many that never been assessed for human health impacts.

Because of their toxicity and ignitability, waste tires are barred from disposal in landfills. The U.S. Government previously promoted the re-use of waste tires as playground infill, but the EPA now says more study is needed to determine the health impacts of these materials.

Due to health concerns, the Los Angeles Unified School District, the City of Los Angeles, the City of New York, and Montgomery County, Maryland, have banned waste tire products in children’s play spaces.

Please join parents of Los Osos children as we call for shredded waste tires to be removed from our the Los Osos Community Park playground and replaced with non-toxic alternatives.

Pieces of these tires are tracked out into the parking lot. These rubber hitchhikers snag onto clothing and shoes where they are picked up by car tires where it makes its way into our waterways and watershed.

There have been many studies that suggest this product is carcinogenic. Out of an abundance of caution we are asking the SLO County Parks Department to replace the shredded tire playground-cover in the Los Osos Community Park.